Manchester United boss José Mourinho keeps being very nice to the Brazilian press, always giving them interviews with a smile on his face.
On Wednesday, ESPN Brasil released part of an interview with him, which was probably the pieces left over from a story made a couple of weeks ago.
They started the chat speaking of Mourinho’s TV ad for Heineken, where he promotes Champions League games, even though he isn’t taking part in the competition this season.
“When they invited me to do it, I said: ‘You will invite me to do this in a year when I do not play the Champions League’. And they said: ‘Champions League without Mourinho is not Champions League. So if you’re not in the field to play the Champions League with Manchester United, at least you’re in the ads that go into people’s houses’. So we decided to do it.”
He still claims he had to make many changes to the club’s facilities, as previous managers couldn’t keep up with the evolution of the game.
“It’s been a little forgotten to follow the evolution of the times at practically all levels. Then, when a mythical manager left, there was obviously a void, a void that fostered stagnation. The club stopped a little.
“It is important to modernise the structure. Without a good structure, there are no good dynamics. Without good dynamics, there are no results. And people sometimes think that money buys players and players buy success. Not here.
“Before buying players and before thinking about a high level team, you have to think about modernising the structures, giving new dynamics, because at this moment football is so professionalised, there are so many areas of support. If we do not keep up with evolution, it’s complicated.”
On the Premier League race, Mourinho said the balance of TV money makes it more difficult to be the top club, with many clubs now able to spend, and resist big offers.
“Perhaps it’s the only country where television rights are shared so that all teams are powerful. Usually, in other countries, big clubs do not want it. Big clubs do not want a breakdown, big clubs want to be the most powerful, they want the gap between big and small, they want the champions to always be the same.
“Here I think that what they wanted to create was a great competition and a great competition is only possible with many great teams and all of them economically powerful. Which makes it harder for everyone.”
Jose Mourinho certainly believes his task at Manchester United is a very big one.
